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Special Issue "Research in Rehabilitation for Children with Motor Disability"

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A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 December 2023 | Viewed by 2560

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Adriano Ferrari

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
Interests: rehabilitation; cerebral palsy; neuromuscular diseases; congenital diseases; neuromuscular manifestations; movement disorders

Dr. Silvia Faccioli

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Guest Editor

IRCCS Local Health Unit of Reggio, Children Rehabilitation Unit, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Interests: rehabilitation; cerebral palsy; neuromuscular diseases; congenital diseases; neuromuscular manifestations; movement disorders

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last several years, progress in the fields of neurophysiology, neuroimaging and human molecular genetics have provided insight into the pathogenetic mechanisms of several neuromotor diseases and their secondary disfunctions. Nonetheless, the evidence supporting rehabilitative interventions for children with motor disabilities is lacking. As Peter Rosenbaum (DMCN 2020, doi: 10.1111/dmcn.146732020) evidenced, the traditional framework applied to clinical research in child rehabilitation presents several limitations. Firstly, it often addresses biomedical impairments, which underly the disability, but may not fit the most relevant goal for the patients. Furthermore, evidence-based medicine values randomized controlled trials, which are based on one primary, independent outcome. Conversely, rehabilitation usually includes multifaceted programs, and several interdependent outcomes. Finally, restricted samples, based on the need to select a homogeneous population, and limited follow-up time, to reduce confounders related to growth and spontaneous development, are other limitations when considering rare diseases and developmental ages. In such instances, mixed-methods research designs might be more appropriate, as these enable the assessment of many dimensions of the outcomes of interest. From this perspective, non-randomized controlled studies are relevant to increase and share the knowledge on this topic.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect the most recent evidence on assessments and rehabilitative interventions for neuromotor disabilities in children. The manuscripts may include submissions of any format (e.g., original article, case report, review or systematic review) that may contribute to this goal. This includes, but is not limited to, manuscripts on cerebral palsy, neuromuscular diseases, ataxic or dyskinetic disorders, and congenital abnormalities. Equally important will be the inclusion of reports or protocols about correlating clinical features and defining functional profiles, which may help in developing targeted approaches in the future.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Adriano Ferrari
Dr. Silvia Faccioli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

rehabilitation
cerebral palsy
neuromuscular diseases
neurodevelopmental disorders
congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases and abnormalities
movement disorders
disabled persons
neuromuscular manifestations
assistive devices
orthotic devices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Responses to Sensory Events in Daily Life in Children with Cerebral Palsy from a Parent Reported Perspective and in a Swedish Context

and

Children 2023, 10(7), 1139; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071139 - 30 Jun 2023

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Abstract

The motor disorders of cerebral palsy (CP) are often accompanied by sensory disturbances, but knowledge of their relationship to motor functioning is sparse. This study explored responses to sensory events in relation to spastic subtype and motor functioning in children with CP. Parents of 60 children with CP (unilateral: 18, bilateral: 42) with GMFCS levels I:29, II:13, III:15 and IV:3 of mean age 12.3 years (3.7 SD) participated. The parents (n = 55) rated their children´s responses with the norm-referenced questionnaire Child Sensory Profile-2© (CSP-2©), Swedish version, incorporating nine sections and four sensory processing patterns/quadrants, and replied (n = 57) to two additional questions. On the CSP-2©, thirty (55%) of the children were reported to have responses “much more than others“ (>2 SD) in one or more of the sections and/or quadrants and 22 (40%) in the section of Body Position, overrepresented by the children with bilateral CP. The additional questions revealed that a greater proportion of children at GMFCS levels III-IV compared to level I frequently were requested to sit/stand up straight (14/17 versus 6/26, p < 0.001) and were sound sensitive at a younger age (14/17 versus 10/26, p = 0.005). The findings of this study highlight the sensory aspects of motor functioning in children with spastic CP. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Rehabilitation for Children with Motor Disability)

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Open AccessArticle

Reliability and Validity of the 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) in Adolescents and Young Adults with Down Syndrome

Juan Luis Sánchez-González

Inés Llamas-Ramos

Rocío Llamas-Ramos

Francisco Molina-Rueda

María Carratalá-Tejada

and

Alicia Cuesta-Gómez

Children 2023, 10(4), 655; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10040655 - 30 Mar 2023

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Abstract

People with Down syndrome (DS) have gait deficits because motor milestones are usually reached later. Decreased gait speed or reduced stride length are some of the main deficits. The main objective of the present work was to assess the reliability of the 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT) in adolescents and young adults with DS. The objective has been to analyze the construct validity of the 10MWT with the Timed up and go (TUG) test. A total of 33 participants with DS were included. Reliability was verified by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The agreement was analyzed by the Bland-Altman method. Finally, construct validity was evaluated through Pearson correlation coefficient. The 10MWT intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were good (ICC between 0.76 until 0.9) and excellent (ICC > 0.9), respectively. The minimal detectable change for intra-rater reliability was 0.188 m/s. Also, it has demonstrated moderate construct validity (r > 0.5) considering the TUG test. The 10MWT has shown high intra- and inter-rater reliability and validity in adolescent and adults with SD and a moderate construct validity between TUG test and 10MWT. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Rehabilitation for Children with Motor Disability)

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Other

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Open AccessCase Report

Effect of Ankle-Foot Orthoses in Pediatric Patients with Hereditary Motor-Sensory Neuropathy: A Case Series Study

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Children 2023, 10(9), 1529; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10091529 - 09 Sep 2023

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Abstract

(1) Aims: to evaluate the effect on gait performance and standing stability of ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) in pediatric patients with hereditary motor-sensory neuropathy (HMSN). (2) Methods: a retrospective case-series study including three adolescents (S1, S2, S3, mean age 14 years) with HMSN. The subjects were evaluated barefoot, with carbon AFO (Botter) and with solid AFO (SAFO) by means of: gait analysis, stabilometry and gait functional tests (10 Meter Walk Test, 2 Minute Walk Test). Finally, the CSD-OPUS questionnaire was administered to the assess satisfaction and impact of the orthoses on life quality. (3) Results: orthoses improved gait and stability performance. Botter allowed greater ankle movement than SAFO and provided greater push-off power. This, combined with the carbon elastic energy return, might explain better performances in the 2MWT, with a larger distance traveled compared to SAFO for both S1 (110 m vs. 72 m) and S2 (170 m vs. 155 m) and, compared to barefoot walking, also for S3 (211 m vs. 160 m), for which SAFO analysis was not available. Both orthoses improved performance at the stabilometric analysis. The CSD-OPUS questionnaire showed a significantly higher level of satisfaction with Botter for the subjects (S1, S2) who completed the comparison. (4) Conclusions: Both orthoses improved gait and standing, though Botter proved to be better tolerated and more effective in improving gait endurance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research in Rehabilitation for Children with Motor Disability)

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